Police Beats – July 6, 2011

He needed it moreA man who told police he had left the house to get coffee for his mother probably needed more for himself after officers arrested him June 24 for disorderly conduct while intoxicated.

Police said the incident began when a patrol officer went to West 231st and Lorain to check on a report of a man with a medical problem. Fire department paramedics at the scene told the officer that the man was highly intoxicated but had complained of chest pains. They added that he was staggering down the roadway and could barely walk when they found him.

When asked by the responding officer why he had left the house, police said he told them he was going to get coffee for his mother. He also told them he called 911 because he thought he needed help, but couldn’t specify what the help was for.

Double trouble
A man already busted by state investigative officers earlier that night for allegedly buying beer for two underage girls is also facing driving under the influence charges after North Olmsted officers arrested him at a Speedway station on Lorain Road June 25.

City officers were called to the scene at about 11:30 p.m. by the state officers who, while investigating and then arresting him on their charges, noted he had open containers of alcohol in his vehicle and appeared intoxicated himself.

Police said he initially tried to ignore officers while returning to his vehicle from a restroom. However, when questioned, they said, he acknowledged drinking with friends earlier, and after he failed field sobriety tests, he was arrested him on the city charges.

Not againA woman who told police that someone had slashed three of her vehicle’s tires earlier in June, but had not reported the incident, called police when it happened again June 26.

Police said the woman told them she had parked her 1993 black Honda at 3:30 p.m. in the Delmere Apartment parking lots and that when she returned at 4:30 p.m., she found the front and rear driver’s side tires slashed. Asked about possible suspects, she said it was probably a family member, but didn’t know which one.

FAIRVIEW PARK

Wanted felons
A June 23 traffic stop near West 215th Street and Lorain Road netted the capture of two wanted felons.

Officers making the stop discovered that the female driver and her male passenger were wanted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s office on felony drug warrants. Both were taken into custody by police without incident.

Bike, pipes stolen on MacbethA Raleigh mountain bike, valued at $447, was reported stolen from an open garage on Macbeth Avenue June 27.

Officers investigating that theft learned that copper pipes had been removed from the house next door. Police said they have the names of two suspects and a vehicle description and are pursuing the leads.

Intergender fightPolice responded to a 911 call June 28 about a fight in progress at a Lorain Road apartment. The two combatants, a woman who lived at the complex and her boyfriend, who lives in Parma Heights, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct – persisting and resisting arrest, police said. The man was also charged with criminal damaging after he allegedly kicked the door of a police car.

ROCKY RIVER

Sending out an SOS
Police received a cellphone call on June 29 at 10:38 p.m. reporting a boat on Lake Erie with four people aboard was in distress. The marine patrol boat Argus IV was dispatched and found the vessel adrift off the coast of Lakewood Park.

Police who provided a jump for the boat’s dead battery diagnosed an electrical problem. The inexperienced sailors were given some safety tips, including advice not to sail at night.

Predator alert
On June 29, police received notice that a convicted sexual predator, recently released from prison, would be staying at a residence on Laramie Drive.

Police determined, however, that the residence was within 1,000 feet of a day care and, by law, could not house the man. He was given notice to move on.

Weed whacker
An angry Higley Road resident called police on June 29 with a complaint that her neighbor was pouring gas on weeds to kill them, and that the gas was running into her own yard and harming her trees. Police advised the neighbor to stop.

No damage to surrounding vegetation was found, but the weed whacker was advised to keep the gas in her car’s tank.

Oh, baby
Officers responded to a report from Kensington Road on June 30 of a child screaming at 12:20 a.m.

Nothing was found amiss at the residence, but a baby monitor was left outside, alerting neighbors to the young one’s night-time needs.

WESTLAKE

Watches stolen from homeA home on West Hedgewood Drive was broken into between 5 and 6 p.m. June 26, police said. The culprit broke a bathroom window to enter, and attempts were made to open two other windows, according to the police report. Four watches and a ring were stolen, police said.

Road rage
A 34-year-old Avon driver faces multiple charges after his car allegedly passed another vehicle in a work zone on Detroit Road the afternoon of June 27.

After the man drove his Ford Explorer around a Honda Civic in the construction zone, the driver and a passenger of the Civic made obscene gestures in response, according to the incident report.

In response, the Explorer driver deliberately struck the Civic and verbally threatened the occupants of the other vehicle before fleeing the scene, police said.

The Ford driver was identified through his license plate and later arrested by police at a Bay Village residence. He faces charges of assault, menacing, hit-skip and improper lane use. The man was released on his own recognizance later that evening.

Three suspects
Three male Lakewood residents, ages 17, 18 and 19, were arrested on suspicion for receiving stolen property around 5 a.m. June 28. The three were riding bicycles along Clague Road near Hilliard Boulevard when they were stopped by a patrolman.

The 18-year-old, who police said became the legal age only at midnight, had an iPod in his backpack that police believe had been stolen in Bay Village. Police are also seized their bikes because they suspect some or all of them may have been stolen in the Westshore area earlier that night.